Boise State QB earns Mountain West honor; eye on special teams; future of the O-line
Quarterback Jaylon Henderson made the most of the first start of his Boise State career Saturday against New Mexico.
It began with a 97-yard scoring drive and ended with Henderson throwing touchdown passes to three different receivers, all while he became the third quarterback to lead the Broncos to a win this season. On Monday, he was named Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Henderson led the Broncos to touchdowns on their first three drives, and he finished the game 15-of-28 for 292 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown pass to John Hightower, which coach Bryan Harsin said after the game was one of the best throws he has ever seen. Henderson entered the season as the third-string quarterback, but he remained prepared for his moment, and Harsin said it showed.
“That kind of shows the stuff we’ve talked about a little bit of guys just sticking through and working through some of the things other people will pick up and leave for, and then you get your opportunity,” Harsin said during his weekly press conference Monday. “And the hard work he has been putting in did not go unnoticed. It showed up in the game.”
Henderson said after the game that we was pretty sure he was going to start by the previous Sunday.
Harsin said Monday that he didn’t know which quarterback was going to start Saturday at Utah State (8:30 p.m., CBSSN) with a chance to clinch the Mountain Division title and home-field advantage in the Mountain West championship game.
True freshman Hank Bachmeier started seven of the first eight games of the season, including the Broncos’ comeback win at San Jose State. He briefly left that game with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. He returned and finished the game but has since missed Boise State’s past two contests.
Redshirt sophomore Chase Cord started against BYU and Wyoming, and he led the Broncos to a 20-17 win in overtime against the Cowboys. But he took some hits during the game, one of which sent him to the medical tent. Like Bachmeier the week before, Cord finished the game. Both quarterbacks were in uniform and on the sideline for Saturday’s game against New Mexico, but neither played.
Harsin said he expects to have a clearer picture of the quarterback depth chart by Tuesday’s practice.
“You start getting to this point, you know, guys want to play, guys want to be on the field, guys want to be part of it,” Harsin said. “We’ll figure out more of what that’s going to look like as we move forward, but we have confidence in all those guys because they’ve all played.”
An eye toward special teams
A special teams gamble by Utah State in the 2018 regular-season finale in Albertsons Stadium paid off big time for the Broncos.
Early in the second quarter, the Aggies attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-1 from their own 34-yard line with a direct snap to tight end Dex Raymond, but he was stopped at the line of scrimmage. Seven plays later, Boise State running back Alexander Mattison scored a 1-yard touchdown to put the Broncos on top for good.
On Monday, Harsin said much of his preliminary film study has been on Utah State’s special teams units, and he cautioned that they could play a big role this weekend in Logan, Utah.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on in special teams, so (we’re) paying a lot of attention to that and just how we can try to better ourselves on that side of the ball,” Harsin said.
Utah State’s Savon Scarver leads the Mountain West with 29.8 yards per kick return, and he has taken two back for touchdowns. Aggies kicker Dominik Eberle (18-of-21) is second in the conference in field goals.
The future of the O-line
With Saturday’s game well in hand in the fourth quarter, the Broncos caught a glimpse of what the offensive line may look like next season.
Left guard John Molchon, center Garrett Larson and right guard Eric Quevedo are seniors, and left tackle Ezra Cleveland could opt to head for the NFL Draft after this season. That’s a lot to replace before next fall, but the upside of the constant injury battle the offensive line has been waging is that a lot of young guys already have experience.
Redshirt junior Jake Stetz replaced Molchon at left guard on the Broncos’ second drive, and as soon as he came in, freshman running back George Holani dashed through his gap for a career-long 50-yard run. Stetz made his first career start in the Broncos’ season opener against Marshall, and he started for Molchon at San Jose State.
The Broncos’ first wave of young linemen hit the field late in the third quarter when redshirt freshman Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez stepped in at right guard after Quevedo left with what looked like a leg injury. With a little more than 10 minutes left to in the game, Garrett Curran replaced Cleveland at left tackle.
Later in the fourth, Holomalia-Gonzalez moved to center and Stetz to right guard. Redshirt freshman Dallas Holliday stepped in at left guard. The only starting offensive lineman who didn’t leave the field was redshirt sophomore right tackle John Ojukwu.
“We lose a lot of guys on this team up front, good players that have been starters for a while, and those guys are the ones that are going to have to take over and step up,” Harsin said.
The young linemen opened some holes for Boise State’s runners, including one that paved the way for a long run by Andrew Van Buren, which was negated by a holding penalty, and another that reserve running back Danny Smith turned into a 16-yard gain.
No increase in season ticket prices
Despite a rare seventh home contest in Albertsons Stadium next year, Boise State will not increase the price of season tickets in the main stadium for the 2020 season, Boise State Athletic Director Curt Apsey announced Monday.
The Broncos’ 2020 home schedule includes nonconference games against Florida State (Sept. 19), BYU (Nov. 7) and Georgia Southern (Sept. 5), and conference games against Colorado State, San Jose State, UNLV and Utah State. Dates for the Broncos’ conference games usually are announced in the spring.
The only adjustments to last year’s pricing are in section 126, where the Bronco Athletic Association per-seat contribution has been removed, and the north end zone, which increased to $149. Additionally, a $9 fee per season ticket has been added for capital improvements, and the per-seat contribution for red and blue sections of the stadium has increased slightly.
For more information, go to broncosports.com.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 5:47 PM.
